Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenian surrender, a coup for Ilham Aliev

Scenes of jubilation in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on November 10, 2020. AP Photo

Text by: RFI Follow

4 min

Crowned with his military victory against Armenia, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev surprised his world this Tuesday, November 10 by inviting a Russian interposition force on his own territory.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in Baku,

Emmanuel Grynszpan

The whole country experienced genuine popular fervor on Tuesday after President Aliev's announcement of

the Armenian surrender.

The Azerbaijanis had been waiting for this reconquest of Karabakh for 30 years.

Revenge will undoubtedly boost the popularity of President Aliyev and his authoritarian regime.

He prepared his shot well by launching the offensive while the whole world was focused on the US election.

Cunning, he knew his opponent, the Armenian prime minister, was hated in Moscow and would not get the Russian military support he badly needed. 

But to everyone's surprise, Baku concluded a pact on Monday evening with Moscow in which Russia is deploying an interposition force of 2,000 troops to guarantee the safety of the Armenians in Karabakh.

An agreement prepared on the sly, which annoys the Azerbaijani nationalists who do not understand why their army did not complete the reconquest of Karabakh and why the former overlord, who helped and protected Armenia so much, still does today figure of ultimate arbiter in their own territory. 

It's been over thirty years since this war started, and there have been so many casualties!

People died, young soldiers killed in action, children killed in the bombardments… But we had to fight in spite of everything, to get our land back…

[Report] Azerbaijanis in Moscow celebrate Armenia's surrender

Daniel Vallot

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Nagorno-Karabakh

  • Armenia

  • Azerbaijan

  • Ilham Aliyev